MIAMI: Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner stunned World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 in an epic Miami Open men’s semi-final duel on Friday while Petra Kvitova set up a meeting with Elena Rybakina in the women’s championship match.

In a rematch of their Indian Wells semi-final, Sinner needed everything in his arsenal to defeat the defending champion and delivered when it mattered to set up a final date on Sunday with Russian Daniil Medvedev.

Up a break in the first set, Sinner brought the crowd to its feet when he survived an extraordinary 25-shot rally in the seventh game, sending Alcaraz flailing to the ground with a sensational backhand winner. But, he handed the Spaniard a break point minutes later.

They traded breaks in the final two games of the set and Alcaraz closed out the tie-break with an ace. But, the Spaniard could not hang on to the momentum and ceded Sinner a break point with a wild shot in the opening game of the second set. While Alcaraz broke Sinner on the third try in the fourth game, he was scathed in the effort, landing hard on his left hand, and later met with a trainer.

The incident took its toll as Sinner broke Alcaraz to love in the ninth game, ending the US Open champion’s 21-set unbeaten streak. Alcaraz returned from a lengthy break in the locker room depleted and suffered through leg cramps that left him shuffling around the court early in the third set.

Sinner broke in the opening game and Alcaraz was left wincing as he suffered another fall onto his left hand, while diving for a serve in the sixth game. Sinner converted another break point in the penultimate game and thrust his fists to the air triumphantly after clinching the match with a forehand winner.

The Italian will next face Medvedev, who survived a stern test from his friend and fellow Russian Karen Khachanov to win 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 earlier on Friday. “Really happy to be through a very tough match,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview.

Kvitova overcomes obstacles

In women’s singles, Kvitova of the Czech Republic overcame an unruly fan and a first-set deficit to beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 7-5, 6-4, reaching the hard-court final for the first time in her 13th appearance in Miami.

After a routine start to the match, a fan who supported Cirstea cheered loudly when Kvitova made an error and in between her first and second serves in the sixth game, a violation of spectator etiquette that saw him reprimanded. Kvitova, visibly rattled, ceded the break point to her opponent and later needed calmness to turn things around.

“When I was down, I was just trying to put a return in and I played a good return,” Kvitova told the Tennis Channel. “One fan screaming against me… I know he supported Sorana but you know it was not really nice and I got distracted,” added Kvitova.

Jannik Sinner delivered when it mattered to set up a final date on Sunday with Russian Daniil Medvedev